622. And when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.- That this signifies that it was examined and perceived that the Word was interiorly undelightful from the adulterated truth of the sense of its letter, is evident from the things explained above (n. 617, 618), where similar words occur. The reason why the belly here signifies the interiors of the Word, which are called spiritual, is, that exploration was represented by the devouring or eating up of the little book, which means the Word, and by its taste, which means perception. Hence the first perception is signified by the taste in the mouth, where the little book was sweet as honey. The first perception of the Word is the perception of the quality of the sense of its letter, thus of the exterior quality of the Word. But the other perception is signified by its taste when it came into the belly which is said to have been made bitter; and this other perception of the Word is the perception of the quality of its spiritual sense, or of the interior quality of the Word. Hence it is, that as the exterior is signified by the mouth, therefore here the interior is signified by the belly, because interiorly received and explored. The reason why the belly signifies interior things, is, that the belly inwardly stores up the food, and food signifies every thing that nourishes the soul, and because the belly, as well as the rest of the viscera, is within, or in the midst of the body, therefore, in the Word, the belly, and also the bowels (viscera), signify interior things.
[2] That the belly and the bowels signify interior things, is evident from the following places.
Thus in Ezekiel:
"Son of man, feed thy belly, and fill thy bowels with this roll" (3:1, 3).
Similar things are signified by these words as by those just explained in the Apocalypse, that is, that he took the little book and ate it up. For the roll, like the little book, signifies the Word, and by feeding the belly, and filling the bowels with the roll, is signified, to explore as to how the Word is understood in the church, which is done by the reading and perception of it.
[3] Again, in David:
"Fill their belly with thy treasure; the sons are fed to the full, and they leave their residue to their infants" (Psalm 17:14).
The treasure here mentioned signifies the truth of the Word, the belly, the interior understanding; therefore, by filling their belly with treasure is signified to instruct their interior understanding in the truths of the Word. That those therefore who are affected with truths are fully instructed, is signified by, the sons are fed to the full, sons denoting those who are in the affection for truth, and the sons' infants, truths springing up; of these it is said that they leave their residue to their infants. It is here said, the interior understanding, for man has an exterior understanding and an interior; the exterior understanding pertains to the natural mind, and the interior understanding to the spiritual mind; the interior understanding is signified by the belly.
[4] Again, in John,
Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow streams of living water. This spake he of the Spirit, which they who believe on him should receive" (7:37-39).
The Lord thus describes the Divine Truth interiorly perceived by those who are in the spiritual affection for truth; these are meant by those who thirst, and come to the Lord and drink. That such have understanding of Divine Truth, is signified by, out of his belly shall flow streams of living water, streams out of the belly denoting, the interior understanding or intelligence, and living water Divine Truth from the Lord. And because the Holy Spirit signifies the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, it is therefore added, "this spake he of the Spirit, which they who believe on him should receive."
[5] Again, in Mark:
"Whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man cannot defile him, because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and is cast out into the draught, purging all foods; but that which goeth out of the man, that defileth the man, for it goeth from within out of the heart of man" (7:18-21; Matthew 15:17-20).
These words are to be understood as follows: that those things, whether falsities or evils, which, either from the sight or hearing, flow into the thought of the understanding, and not into the affection of its will, do not affect or influence the man, because the thought of the understanding of a man, so far as it does not proceed from the affection of his will, is not in the man, but outside of him, therefore it is not appropriated to him. The case is similar in regard to truth and good. These things the Lord teaches by correspondences, when He says, that that which enters by the mouth into the belly does not render a man unclean, because it enters not into the heart, for that which enters into the belly is cast out into the draught; and this means that what enters the thought of the understanding of man from without or from the outside, whether from objects of the sight, speech, or memory, does not render him unclean, but that so far as it is not of his affection or will, it is separated and cast out, just as that which is taken into the belly is cast out into the draught.
These spiritual things the Lord expounded by means of natural things, because the foods that are taken into the mouth, and thus passed into the belly, signify those things that man spiritually receives, and with which he nourishes his soul, and therefore the belly corresponds to the thought of the understanding, and also signifies it. That the heart signifies the affection of the will of man was shown above; likewise, that that alone is appropriated to man which becomes a part of his affection or will. That spiritual things, and not natural things, are meant, is evident, for the Lord declares that out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Since the falsities and evils which enter from without into the thoughts, enter from the hells, and if not received by man in the affection of the will are cast back into the hells, it is therefore said that they are cast out into the draught. For the draught signifies hell, because all things are unclean in the hells, and those who have been cast there out of heaven (e coelo), which, being in form as a man, is therefore called the Grand Man (Maximus Homo), and also corresponds to all things of man; whereas the hells correspond to the ejections from the belly of the Grand Man or of heaven, for this reason hell in the spiritual sense is meant by the draught. The belly is said to purge all foods, because the belly signifies the thought of the understanding, as stated above, and foods signify every kind of spiritual nourishment, and the thought of the understanding is that which separates the unclean from the clean, and thus purges.
[6] Again, in Jeremiah:
Jehovah God said, "Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath disturbed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up as a sea monster (cetus), he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath driven me away" (51:34).
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon signifies the profanation of Divine Truth; and because those who profane it drink it in more than others and use it for the purpose of filthy loves, especially the love of ruling, even to the transferring of all Divine power to themselves, this is signified by the words, "he hath swallowed me up as a sea monster, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies," the sea monster signifying the ultimate Natural, in which those are who are in the love of self, while delicacies denote cognitions of truth and good from the Word, and to fill the belly with them signifies here to imbibe and profane them.
[7] Again, in David:
"Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress; mine eye wasteth away with indignation, my soul and my belly" (Psalm 31:9).
The eye, the soul, and the belly, here signify the understanding, and thence the thought of truth, interior and exterior; thus by the belly are signified the interiors of the understanding, which are said to waste away with indignation when they perish through falsities.
[8] Again:
"Our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth unto the earth" (Psalms 44:25).
The soul and the belly in the spiritual sense here also signify the thought of the understanding, and being bowed down to the dust, and cleaving to the earth, signifies to be imbued with falsities, for dust and earth here signify what is infernal and accursed. Infernal and accursed are also signified by going upon the belly and by eating dust, as was said to the serpent:
"Be thou cursed above all beasts, and above every wild beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" (Genesis 3:14).
For the same reason it was altogether forbidden to eat whatsoever goeth upon the belly, for it was an abomination (Leviticus 11:42). The reason why dust, and the cleaving of the belly to the earth, signify infernal and accursed falsity, is, that the hells are under the lands (sub terris) in the spiritual world, and through the lands in that world falsities of evil are exhaled from the hells. And because the belly from correspondence signifies the interiors of the understanding and thought, infected and imbued with the falsities of evil if they adhere to those earths, therefore also in the spiritual world no one lies with the belly upon the earth. Moreover to walk there upon the earth with the feet, denotes to touch and drink in exhalations from the hells with the corporeal Natural, which corresponds to the soles of the feet, and this Natural has no communication with the thoughts of the understanding, except with those who are in evils as to life and falsities as to doctrine.
[9] Again, in Job:
"The belly prepareth deceit" (15:35).
And again, in the same:
"For I am full of words, the spirit of my belly constraineth me; and, my belly, as wine, is not opened" (32:18, 19).
By these words is meant that he could not open the thoughts of his understanding.
Again, in Jeremiah:
"O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thoughts of iniquity abide in thy belly?" (4:14).
In these words thoughts are clearly attributed to the belly, for it is said, "How long shall thoughts of iniquity abide in thy belly?" wickedness also is attributed to the heart, because the heart corresponds to the will, where wickedness resides.
And in David:
"For there is nothing certain in the mouth of any one; their belly is perditions; their throat is an open sepulchre, with their tongue they speak smoothly" (Psalm 5:9).
Here also perditions, that is, evil thoughts, are attributed to the belly.
Again:
"The belly of man (vir) and the heart are deep" (Psalm 64:6).
The belly of a man signifies thoughts of falsity, and the heart, the affections of evil, the latter pertaining to the will, the former to the understanding.
So in Habakkuk:
"My belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice" (3:16).
By the belly trembling is signified grief of thought, wherefore it is also said, "My lips quivered at the voice," denoting a stammering thence of the speech. The belly (viscera) of the sea monster (ceti), in which Jonah was three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17), signifies the hells where the direst falsities are, with which he was encompassed, consequently grievous temptations, as is evident from the prophecy of Jonah in the same chapter, where it is said:
Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice (2:2).
[10] That the bowels (viscera) have a similar signification to the belly (venter) is clear from the following passages.
In Isaiah:
"My bowels are moved like a harp for Moab, and my inward part for Kir-heres" (16:11).
In David:
"Bless Jehovah, O my soul; and all my bowels the name of his holiness" (Psalm 103:1).
And again:
"I have desired to do thy will, O my God, and thy law is in my bowels" (Psalm 40:8).
In Ezekiel:
"Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Jehovah; they shall not satisfy their soul, neither fill their bowels" (7:19).
Their silver and gold signify the falsities and evils of the religion which is from their own intelligence and their own will; that no spiritual nourishment or intelligence, and affection for good comes from these, is signified by, they shall not satisfy their soul, neither fill their bowels. Because the bowels signify the interiors of thought, and because these are affected with grief, therefore such grief is expressed in the Word by "the moving of the bowels"; as in Isaiah 63:15; Jeremiah 31:20; Lamentations 1:20; Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34; 8:2; Luke 1:78; 7:12, 13; 10:33, 34; 15:20.
[11] Since the belly signifies the interiors of the thought or of the understanding, therefore by the fruit of the belly in the spiritual sense, are signified the goods of the understanding, and by sons its truths.
Thus in David:
"Lo, sons are the heritage of Jehovah, the fruit of the belly the reward" (Psalm 127:3).
And in Isaiah:
"They shall have no pity on the fruit of the belly; their eye shall not spare the sons" (13:18).
And in Job:
"Pitying I mourn for the sons of my belly" (19:17).
And in Moses:
"He will bless the fruit of the belly, and the fruit of the land" (Deuteronomy 7:13).
And in Hosea:
"Yea when they have brought forth, I will slay the desires of their belly" (9:11, 16).
The fruit of the belly and the desires of the belly, signify, in the sense of the letter, natural offspring, but in the spiritual sense spiritual offspring, which is knowledge (scientia), intelligence, and wisdom, for into these man is re-born when he is regenerated. For this reason births, sons and daughters, and other names referring to nativity, signify such things as pertain to spiritual nativity or regeneration. For the angels, who perceive the Word spiritually, are unacquainted with any other birth or fruit of the belly.
[12] Therefore the womb and the belly signify similar things in the following passages.
Thus in Isaiah:
"O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Thy seed had then been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the small stones thereof" (48:18, 19).
And in David:
"I was cast upon thee from my mother's belly, thou art my God" (Psalms 22:10).
And again:
"For thou hast possessed my reins; thou hast covered me in my mother's belly" (Psalms 139:13).
And again:
"The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from the belly, speaking a lie" (Psalms 58:3), and in other places.
[13] The belly or the bowels signify the interiors of the thought or of the understanding, because there are two lives with man, the life of the understanding, and the life of the will. All things of the body correspond to these two fountains of life, and are therefore acted upon and act at their direction to such a degree that whatever part of the body does not suffer itself to be acted upon by them is not alive; consequently the whole body is subject to the government of those two lives. For all things in the body that are moved by the respiration of the lungs, and in the measure that they are so moved, are under the government of the life of the understanding, and all things in the body that are acted upon by the pulsation of the heart, and in the measure that they are so acted upon, are under the government of the life of the will. For this reason mention is frequently made in the Word of the soul and the heart, and the soul signifies the life of the understanding, and also the life of faith, for the term soul is used in reference to respiration, while the heart signifies the life of the will, and also the life of the love. Therefore also the belly and the bowels are spoken of in reference to thought which is of the understanding, while the heart refers to affection which is of the will.
